


Shower time with Flatdustboose

by Fandom_Trash_Goblin



Series: Stex drabbles [4]
Category: Starlight Express - Phillips/Stilgoe/Webber
Genre: Almost Dying, M/M, Multi, ablutophobia, allergic reactions, showering together, tiny hits of smexy times, very tiny so don’t worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29121873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandom_Trash_Goblin/pseuds/Fandom_Trash_Goblin
Summary: Flat-Top has Ablutophobia. The fear of bathing/showering. Why? Nobody knows. But his determined boyfriends are here to help him!
Relationships: CB | Caboose/Dustin/Flat-Top (Starlight Express)
Series: Stex drabbles [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122296
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Shower time with Flatdustboose

It was shower day for the freight.

Most of them weren’t too concerned with being clean, but C.B. really was. The brake van insisted that everyone shower at least once a month.

Everyone begrudgingly followed his rule. Well, almost everyone.

Flat-Top didn’t.

Nobody knew why, they just assumed he was stubborn.

C.B. loved Flat-Top, he really did, but he always felt grimy after any contact with the brick truck. He didn’t like feeling grimy. They had to get Flat-Top to shower. It wouldn’t be easy by any means, but Dustin and C.B. had a plan.

“So, The Rockies are done showering...” C.B. said casually, sitting next to Flat-Top.

“Yep, be nightfall soon.” Flat-Top nodded as Dustin sat on the other side of him.

“Me and Dustin are next, and we wanted to know if you would join us?” C.B. looked up at Flat-Top hopefully.

Flat-Top stared at him for a moment, ”...No.” then he got up and tried to bolt, but Dustin grabbed onto his hand before he could leave.

“It’ll be okay. We’ll be right there-“ Dustin began.

“Frickin’- no!” Flat-Top growled, trying to break from the big hopper’s grasp.

“Why not? Why do you hate being clean so much?” C.B. asked.

Flat-Top looked between the two, realizing there was no way out of this. He sighed,

“Remember you two’s first trip?”

“Yes, we went to Ohio.” C.B. nodded, wondering what that had to do with everything.

“Well...” Flat-Top took a deep breath.

_A younger Flat-Top grumbled as he messed with the shower knobs. It had to be just right, which meant really hot. Finally getting it to a good temp, he dumped some soap into his hands. Rubbing it into his hair, he started feeling...not good._

_He sniffled a little bit, wondering why it was getting stuffy. He shrugged it off for a moment, but he couldn’t ignore it when his eyes started watering rather badly and his throat felt scratchy._

_He coughed, and began scratching at his neck. It felt bad. Really bad. He began seriously panicking when it got really hard to breathe. He weakly tried calling out, “H-hel-“ but he didn’t get to finish before everything went black._

_“Oh thank Starlight, he’s okay!” He awoke to see Toolshed, one of the Tool Twins looking over him, “The CPR worked!”_

_“How do you feel, Flat-Top?” Toolbox, the other twin, asked._

_“What...happened?’ Flat-Top sat up weakly._

_“You had a severe allergic reaction to the soap. You passed out and Toolshed found you, you’re very lucky.” Toolbox said, tussling Flat-Top’s hair._

“I know it’s a dumb reason...but I get scared...” Flat-Top mumbled.

Dustin and C.B. looked at each other worriedly, before both closed in on Flat-Top and trapped him in a tight hug, heads pressed against his.

“I’m sorry, I had no idea you were dealing with that.” C.B. murmured.

“You don’t ‘ave to shower if you don’t wanna, we won’t force you.” Dustin said quietly.

“I...” Flat-Top took a deep breath, “It’s not like I don’t wanna, showerin’ with you two sounds great. I just...I’ve tried before and it brings back too much...”

“It’ll be different, we’ll be with you. But if you don’t wanna...” C.B. trailed off.

“Oh, Starlight, I’m actually considering it.” Flat-Top grumbled.

“We can snuggle after.” Dustin offered.

“I do like that...” Flat-Top muttered, “Fine...I’ll try. But no promises.”

“Really?” C.B. gasped.

“Yeah.” Flat-Top nodded. Permission.

“Great!” C.B. beamed.

“C’mon then, it’s almost nightfall.” Dustin offered up his couplers. Flat-Top grabbed on with C.B. behind him.

“How do you like the water? Hot? Cold? Medium?” C.B. asked as they approached the showers.

“I like it hot.” Flat-Top shrugged, trying not to show his nervousness as he uncoupled from Dustin.

When he skated into the showers, he almost started hyperventilating. It brought back a lot. He’d barely stepped into the showers since the incident. He must have been breathing heavily because C.B. grabbed his hand.

“Relax.” C.B. pressed a reassuring kiss to Flat-Top’s neck.

“If anything happens, we’ll be right here.” Dustin gently bumped his shoulder.

“You wanna continue?” C.B. asked.

Flat-Top took a deep breath and nodded.

He winced a little as the two other trucks led him into a shower stall. It was just a shower stall, but that was enough to almost send Flat-Top into a panic attack.

His knees wobbled and his hands shook, both nervous habits of his. His breathing also picked up. C.B. and Dustin were by his side in a second.

“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay.” Dustin murmured, pressing kisses to Flat-Top’s helmet.

“We’re here, it’s alright.” C.B. whispered.

Flat-Top managed to calm himself down with some deep breaths.

“You want me to take your stuff? We can clean them tomorrow.” Dustin offered.

“Sure.” Flat-Top mumbled, unclipping his helmet and handing it over to the big Hopper. He did the same with his gloves and chains. It felt...weird to not have them on.

“You can still turn back.” C.B. reminded him, taking off his hat.

“No time to face fears like the present, love.” Flat-Top snorted.

“I guess that’s one way of looking at it...” Dustin mumbled, turning on the water.

Flat-Top was caught off guard a little from the sudden blast of water, but he got used to it quickly and leaned into it. It had been a long time since he’d had the pleasure of enjoying warm water. If he had really needed to get clean, he would have normally just stood outside while it rained.

“Wow.” C.B. snorted, looking at all the grime that had already washed off and was going down the drain.

“It’s been a while.” Flat-Top murmured, he began to purr the tiniest bit.

“Do you remember ‘ow to wash? No shame if you don’t.” Dustin quickly added that last part

“Eh.” Flat-Top made a so-so motion with his hand.

“That’s fine, we can ‘elp.” Dustin smiled gently, raising a wash cloth in a silent question.

Flat-Top nodded as C.B. gently began untangling his messy hair.

Flats had to physically stop himself from purring louder when Dustin pressed the cloth to his neck. It felt..nice. Well, it did until Dustin stopped and recoiled a little.

“What is it?” Flat-Top opened his eyes.

“Your paint...it’s two shades lighter than I thought it was.” Dustin gasped a little before resuming.

“It’s two shades lighter than I thought it was, too...” Flat-Top snorted.

He winced a bit and jerked his head to see C.B. fiddling his the joint of his elbow.

“There is...a lot of gunk built up in here...” The caboose huffed.

“This may take a while...” Dustin remarked.

Spoiler alert: it did take a while.

There were some more revelations about Flat-Top that the two discovered.

C.B. almost ripped out Flat-Top’s earrings when he found that he couldn’t remember how long they’d been in for, and he’d gasped in terror when he realized that one of Flat-Top’s wheels was almost fully broken.

Dustin had scrubbed at the marking around Flat-Top’s eye for minutes before realizing that it was in fact a birthmark rather than muck or a bruise.

“I’m gonna wash your ‘air now...” Dustin warned, getting some soap into his hands.

Flat-Top noticeably got tense and C.B. set a hand on his shoulder, “Relax. They changed the soap after the incident.” He murmured.

“It’s gonna feel nice.” Dustin reassured before beginning to rub it into Flat-Top’s scalp.

Oh Starlight. It did feel nice. At least until Dustin’s finger hit a spot on Flat-Top’s head that made him wince.

“What’s that?” Dustin questioned quietly, moving some hair over. “Okay, we’re taking you to the Tool Twins in the morning.”

“Why? Oh.” C.B. winced a little when he saw what it was.

“What? What is it?” Flat-Top asked, getting a little panicked.

“Uh, just imagine a very deep deep crack on your head.” C.B. said gently.

“Oh. So that’s what’s been hurting...” Flat-Top shrugged.

“Lemme rinse it out.” Dustin said quietly, leaning Flat-Top’s head into the water more.

“Oh, Starlight...” Dustin gasped lightly, “You’re a brunette? I thought you had black hair!”

“So did I, mate.” Flat-Top laughed dryly.

“I’ll get you a towel.” C.B. said helpfully, going off to find one as Dustin turned the water off.

“That wasn’t so bad...” Flat-Top murmured quietly, shaking some of the extra water out of his hair.

“Roxy’s supposed to get back tomorrow, we can ask her to give you a haircut.” C.B. grinned as he handed the flatcar a towel.

“That would be nice.” Flat-Top mumbled as he began the very tedious task of drying all the nooks and crannies in his plating.

Once he was done, Dustin and C.B. looked him up and down.

“What?” Flat-Top raised a brow.

“You look...so different...” C.B. blinked in disbelief.

“Like a new truck.” Dustin nodded.

Flat-Top tried to hide his blush, “Shut up and take me to the shed so we can snuggle.”

And snuggle they did. (Maybe more than that *wink wink*)

The next morning everyone went crazy because it was the first time they saw Flats not filthy. The Tool Twins checked him over and fixed the broken parts. C.B. and Dustin then agreed that they would be doing this every month.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I know someone will say that an allergic reaction isn’t “traumatic enough”. First off: rude. Second off: that is invalidating people who have had this happen to them and have trauma from it. Third off: it’s my fic and I can do what I want bro.


End file.
